We have been doing a lot of work in our house lately. I commented the other day that I felt like I have worked harder since being out of school for the summer than I did teaching. As I was working the other day the verse from Ecclesiastes 9:10 about might came to my mind.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
When I am home for the summer, it is easy for me to think that I shouldn’t be working so hard. After all, I’m not actually “working”. I should be resting, right? Wrong! According to that verse, it doesn’t matter what I am doing it should be done with all of my might.
Last summer started when I was 8.5 months pregnant. So it was necessary that I rest. I can tell you without a doubt that I rested with might! Naps were a regular occurrence and unless my mom made me go out or I needed to grocery shop I was resting. This year is different. As I mentioned we are in the middle of several renovation projects. I now have an eleven month old to care for and I need to be taking care of myself. I should be doing all of these things with might.
What is interesting to me is that I don’t think I had ever read the end of that verse. The Easy-to-Read Version of the verse says it this way,
Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can. In the grave there is no work. There is no thinking, no knowledge, and there is no wisdom. And we are all going to the place of death.
That is not something that we really like to think about, but we are all going to leave this earth someday. I don’t want to be remembered as someone who worked hard on my job, but came home and didn’t take care of my family and was lazy. I want it to be said that I did everything to the best of my ability.
That means that during the summer I take care of Baby Girl to the best of my ability. Whether its being at home and spending time playing and interacting with her, or taking her out to do things that she enjoys. Sure, she’s not yet one, but I can tell you that she certainly enjoyed story time at the library this week. It was a lot of work to get her together and getting out of the house to do that, but I did it with might.
It also means that I should be taking care of my house the best I can. I don’t consider myself very good homemaker. However, as long as I am “homemaking” with might, that’s okay. The issue comes when I am not doing my best to take care of the house. I also have to take care of myself. It is not good for me to sit around with my feet up and a snack in my hand all summer. I need to be active and social for my own well-being.
Finally, most teachers will tell you that they do some (much) preparation over the summer, just like any break, for the next school year. I have probably spent 5-7 hours in the past three weeks doing something teaching related. Because the Word says to do everything with might. I am not just a teacher during the school year. A teacher is part of who I am as a person, and I am a teacher with might.
Martina